Cold Water Wetsuit - A Little Advice?

[Grey_Wulff]

Has anyone tried any cheaper hooded full, or semi dry suits. I am a college student, aka have little to no money to spend on suits. Currently I dive 3 wet suits between 1/2mm and 5mm with a hooded vest and dive water in the mid 40's. And quite frankly i'm just tired of being cold all the time. I defienlty can't afford a dry suit, and a 500.00 semi dry is out of my price range as well. I was wondering if anyone here has taken a chance with any low end semi drys and found anything worth the price.


Visibility is not an issue

Still not cheap at about $330 but definately a great suit for the price.

Grey_Wulff

 

[bgi]

Has anyone tried any cheaper hooded full, or semi dry suits. I am a college student, aka have little to no money to spend on suits. Currently I dive 3 wet suits between 1/2mm and 5mm with a hooded vest and dive water in the mid 40's. And quite frankly i'm just tired of being cold all the time. I defienlty can't afford a dry suit, and a 500.00 semi dry is out of my price range as well. I was wondering if anyone here has taken a chance with any low end semi drys and found anything worth the price.


Visibility is not an issue

I wouldn't call it low-end, but this works great. I was impressed. Naturally, it loses a lot of it's insulation at 120ft, but I never got cold in 50F water. It's pretty toasty shallow.

<http://www.scubatoys.com/store/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=Isotherm>

 

[TeddyDiver]

Temperatures 50F ? considered cold Well it's july and yesterday avarege temp was 43F in 60' dive. With 7mm full wetsuit with hooded 5mm shorty my friend stayed 1h and feeled a bit chily after. For cold water diving just enough for him. I need more termal protection so I dive dry. It's very personal matter, and you have to listen your body to know whats good for you.
Buying cheap wetsuit one should remember not to expect the top quality. Even if the termal protection is about the same how many years/dives you are planning to use it? I've found buying quality makes the biggest savings on long run...